The Second Round - Arrival at Bazzoxan - Sessions Four and Five

Journal Page  

South Through the Wastes 

(going to be skimpy because I was stupid and waited for too long and my brain leaked all the details)

The Second Round and Rivals of Destiny came into the Emerald Loop and had a moment of respite among the merchants that had stopped there for the evening. Tarre went about doing the mundane tasks of camping as Annalch puttered about with her alchemy set and tried to process the fact that her mothers were now dead. As for the heroes of the two adventuring parties, they gave the merchant some space and moved about on their own interactions.

Kanti Messner / Godfrey Mason / Lesley Tinker - Changeling Lore Bard / Celestial Warlock

15th Lore Bard / 5th Celestial Warlock, Changeling Far Traveler

Personas

• Kanti Messner - German female half-elf, usually fronts. Tends to be reserved and prone to expecting deception.
• Godfrey Mason - British male dwarf, tends to be a lot more aggressive
• Lesley Tinker - American non-binary shadar-kai, tends not to hang around for danger, does most of the crafting.
  

Patron: Book of Exalted Deeds

Str: 12
Dex: 16
Con: 12
Int: 17
Wis: 18
Cha: 22

HP: 140
AC: 16 (Glamoured Studded Leather Armor)
Spell Save: 20
Bardic Inspiration: 6d12
Speed: 30 ft (60ft Fly - Broom)

The Cult and the Dragon - Caress Melani Journal - Session 11

Rite to Blight 

 

"Follow me along carefully, and avoid those bushes there, they're full of twig blights," Reiodoth declared. "Beyond this next building are the cultists."

"All right," Mythram said. "I'll climb up on the the walls here and we can approach quietly.

Caress nodded and tried to slip quietly around one of the ruined corners, though the clanking sound of her armor's scales clacking against each other chimed loudly, through the abandoned village, causing several voices to call to each other in alarm and concern. Behind her Caress heard the exasperated sighs of her party as she took a deep breath and stepped forward trying to channel everything she could about the sinister reputation of yuan-ti in general.

"Hello, I suspect we might have aims that align with each other," she said, letting the magic slip off her forked tongue... and slid right off the mind of her target as he glanced down at the buckler she was trying to keep out of line of sight.

"What's that symbol on your shield?"

One DND - Playtest Materials - Character Origin

So, in attempt to explore what I think and feel about the recent reveal by Wizards of the Coast regarding new mechanics for choosing races, I'm working on this blog post.

Rite to Blight - Caress Melani Journal - Session 10

The Bandit King's Pets

"Caress Melani, I do hearby grant you the rank of Cheval, welcome to the Order of the Gauntlet," Daran Edermath declared with a concise set of gestures and the passing over of a small badge depicting the iconography of the Order with empty places that might later hold representations of increased rank. 

"I am glad that you changed your mind about my offer, I think you will do well in the order."

Caress smiled politely and nodded, brushing back a lock of hair in a good artifice of coquettish manner. "I wonder whether the rest of the Order will agree with your estimation, sir."

"And why did you accept the offer then?" the man asked giving her a knowing look.

"It occurred to me that if anyone might need a courtesan's grace, it is those who give so much of themselves, and hold so much tightly inside," she smirked in a mirror to his own expression. "Some might uncharitably suggest I see a... business opportunity."

The old half-elf blushed briefly, taken aback by the response, but chuckling in response. "Regardless, your heart is that of a defender, and that is the important thing. You will find a good place in with the order. Where do you plan on heading next?"

"Tonight I shall attend to my own duties," she said. "And on the morrow, we are making the trek to the ruins of Thundertree."

"I see, be careful on that, I've heard rumors that the land there is cursed."

"All the better reason to investigate, then." Caress responded.

The Bandit King's Pets - Caress Melani Journal - Session 9

Moonlit Laughter

Some builds borrowed from the Hero Forge community library with minor alterations: Goblins, Hobgoblin, King Grol, wolf, various paladins, and doppleganger. 

Targor proved slippery than expected, or at least Caress proved to be a poorer guard than expected, as the hobgoblin lieutenant slipped his bonds on the second day back to Phandalin. However, this did give the party a clear trail to follow which led them straight to the place that they had been seeking: Cragmaw Castle. They once again came upon Targor arguing with a guard, but this time they did not politely take him prisoner. Instead as they noticed Caress's noisy approach, an arrow from Mythram removed him permanently from their concern.

At this point, the guards called out an attack and everybody moved forward. Lyra vanished in a swirl of unseasonably red and yellow leaves reappearing within a guard post along with two goblins, one of which was charmed by the sudden appearance of the beautiful fae creature. The other was less impressed. Unfortunately, the guard outside ignored Ravyn's spell, only to be killed by a blast of hellish fire as he struck the Warlock. Caress darted around the corner to support Lyra, though unfortunately her clattering approach warned the bandits and the wily goblin dodged aside of her blessed dagger.

Where'd the grick come from?

 Lyra vanished again, moving to the source of more noise and unleashing a cascade of fire upon the dining room of the goblins, apparently killing the head cook in the process. Though the eladrin did run afoul of a deadfall trap in the process.

Moonlit Laughter - Caress Melani Journal - Session 8

Remnants of Ruin 

 

The shrine is a question that would have to wait for later. No one still lived that knew the whole truth of the matter, save the gods, and they weren't likely to reveal such information upon demand. In the meantime, they had more tasks to look into in this part of the region. More straightforward rumors of unwise ruins explorers and bandits. And that was something that both needed attention and which they could attend to right now. So, after a rest in the hollow remnants of Conyberry, they headed south to Old Owl Well. 

Caress was not much of a student of history, but this well was one that turned up rather frequently in tales of battles both ancient and rather closer to the current time. She wasn't sure why the place was a focus of conflict so often, but it was, and that history apparently went all the way back to the days of the Netherese and their empire of floating cities and magocratic tyranny. The Netherese had made enough of a headache of themselves in recent history, it would be unfortunate if anybody decided to try to renew their efforts to conquer and oppress the Realms.

As they approached the tower, the spell of corpseflesh wafted down from the ruins. Caress and Mythram split in two different directions, moving stealthily along the walls before Ravyn's imp flitted invisibly forward to scout out the situation. Already Caress had a line of sight on a handful of zombies shambling at some task visible through breaks in the crumbling stone walls. Ravyn pantomimed some strange hand signals that Caress took to be a count and something about a hat or hair? The wiggly hands and gestures toward Lyra and raising her arcane focus seemed to indicate that the person with the hat? hair? was some sort of spell caster. Caress nodded and readied her whip and shield for the signal to be given.

Zombies by Moonlight

The signal was the descent of shimmering silver striking down from the sky onto the tent that presumably held the caster. Immediately, the yuan-ti courtesan rushed forward to the entrance of the tower, ignoring the strangled cries of pain that erupted from the tent. Once there, she found a small mob of zombies wielding shovels and picks interrupted their work and slowly turned to face Caress. Behind her, a bald man with a red robe tore out of the tent into the courtyard where his troubles were cut short by an arrow that Mythram had been holding ready.

The Second Round - South through the Wastes - Session Three

Journal Page 

The Jewel of Three Prayers 

The first couple of days travel were fairly relaxed, though the grim nature of the surroundings did damper a lot of the calm. Passing between the spines erupting from the ground here and there with increasing frequency to the east as they approach the sheer mountains looming there. The first encounter of note they had was with a troop of six Aurora Watch soldiers and their scout Devin, a drow woman who also was an exceptional cook. They exchanged news with the patrol about the surroundings. The patrol did seem to think there wasn't that much going on that was above the normal, but Devin pointed out that they'd seen a gloomstalker in the distance. 

Monster of the Week: Anthology

I have started running Monster of the Week one-shots, the idea is to build out a world story by story and I'm currently using this as filler for when other people can't make a game.

Mysteries:

• The Haunting of New Signika
  

Hunters

• Kylie Brown - The Mundane
• Tess "Tinmother" Richter - The Flake

Phenomena

• Cursed Possessions - Items which function as apertures into the mortal world to allow dangerous ghosts influence.
• "Angry Letters" - Purple, eldritch letters cut into objects by the rune awl. They seem to have some level of animation and agency. Can be scooped off objects and trapped in containers.
  

Creatures

• Hunting Ghosts - Puppeted forms of past victims of the Cursed Possessions

 Objects

• Rune Awl - A handle that can produce a subtle supernatural blade which can be used to chisel eldritch writing into things. Used in Big Magic rituals.
  

The Haunting of New Signika - Monster of the Week: Anthology

On the edge where the city was creeping into the fields, two cars drove along a road that had been freshly paved probably no longer than a season past. They passed along several sites of carefully marked and roped off lots. A handful of them were active construction sites, laying the foundation or raising the skeletal framework of a house to be. In other cases the materials had been delivered and lay stacked in weather-proofed containers waiting for a crew to be assigned. In one or two places, a building stood nearly complete but the cars drove past these up to the only house within sight that lay entirely complete. They pulled side by side into the driveway as people exited them. A tall and thin woman smiled as she stepped out of the small, cube-like black car and waved to the two people stepping out of the silver four-door car.

Remnants of Ruin - Caress Melani Journal - Session 7

Bones and Bullies 

The town of Conyberry was a shell of its former self, but it had been abandoned well before Caress was... she paused for a moment and considered. It had never occurred to her whether she had been born or hatched. She was a pureblood and her ears were rounded so at least one of her parents was human or something of that kin. And purebloods had live-birth as often as they laid eggs. She did have a belly-button, but that could have been an artifice. Belly buttons were scars after all and such could be crafted. Purebloods were the infiltrators of the Serpent Kingdom. She glanced vaguely south and east toward the culture that had decided her value was chattel years ago.

Meeting Agatha